Mirror Mirror
by Luaithreach
Summary: While on the quest, his uncle sent him on a job. He didn't return from it. Why is that? Well, the Orcs have him. Azog has him. Azog, the orc who swore to wipe out the line of Durin. Rated T for blood. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**For those of you reading my other story, hi! I've started another one. I'm still going to update Betrayed, but I'm not feeling too well at the moment and find myself spending a lot of time either in bed or in front of the telly. And whilst I love my bed a lot and the telly is one of my best friends, I still got bored. And so, I**** came up with this.**

**The title of this story was inspired by Mirror Mirror, the song from the White Trailer for the anime series RWBY. The song was composed by Jeff Williams and featured Casey Lee Williams for the vocals. The quotes are also from Mirror Mirror.**

**Disclaimer:**

**I own neither The Hobbit, not the song :(**

* * *

_-Mirror, tell me something-_

_-Tell me who's the loneliest of all-_

* * *

Cold, smooth and shiny glass. A mirror. As a little dwarfling, Kili had seen many faces in the big mirror above the mantle piece in their home in the Blue Mountains. He had seen his father's face and his uncle's face, his mother's face and hair brother's face. And his own. And as he grew, he could no longer see his father's face in the mirror. He was no longer there. His uncle, however, started to become withdrawn, working in the forges and often appearing to daydream. Fili was his heir and Thorin took him with him when he went on business trips. He kept Fili at his side, training him as his heir. Slowly, slowly, Fili's face began to fade from the mirror. Their mother mourned her husband's death but at first she remained strong for her sons' sakes. But it was forced and she struggled. She often spent days in silence, staring in to the distance, smiling at things that no other person could see. She forgot the world, leaving her son to cope by himself and her face began to fade as well. Almost all the faces had faded from the mirror. And then all that little Kili could see in the mirror was one face. His own. A single face in the mirror, a single face in life.

* * *

There was something odd about that young, dark haired dwarf, Bilbo decided. He was too quiet. The other dwarves all laughed and shouted at each other and threw food. But this young one, he kept to himself and ate quietly. The other dwarves, they were happy and made jokes and playfully insulted each other. He sat there and it seemed as if he was almost _forcing_ himself to appear happy. If he was fooling the others and making them think he was happy, Bilbo wondered what it was like to see him sad. He was more polite than the others and had smiled at him at the door. But it was a sad smile.

He had arrived alone, not unlike the first two but this one seemed too young to be traveling by himself. The first one, he was terrifying and huge and intimidating and terrifying. The second, although much older, almost _elderly _seemed capable of fighting off anyone who would bother attacking him. But this one, he was so _young_ he appeared to be an easy target and looked as if he could hardly take care of himself. He was skinnier, far skinnier than any of the others. He looked as if he hadn't been fed properly for an age.

When the dwarves had started throwing plates around and started singing, he too had tossed Bilbo's plates and bowls and knives and spoons and forks around. But not very enthusiastically. The had all sang loudly, clearly enjoying themselves whilst clearing up after their suppers and terrorising the poor little hobbit, while he had hummed along quietly. His eyes hadn't held the spark the others' had. They held sorrow and misery. Bilbo wondered what had happened in his past to set him apart from the rest of the dwarves, what had deprived him of the joy a young child needs to feel to be happy for most of the rest of their life. What in his young life had caused him misery a young one should not feel?

He had suspicions forming after opening his door to a majestic dwarf with dark hair and piercing blue eyes with another young dwarf at his side. He was blond and he had blue eyes too. All the other dwarves had bowed to him. The older dwarf had sent the young one a look and then started talking to Bilbo while the young dwarf slowly retreated to the back of the group. But being one of the tallest of the dwarves, he was still slightly visible. The blond one had gone looking for him and had spoken to him before Thorin had called him back.

The look Thorin had given the young one hadn't been full of anger or hate, it was a look that held no visible emotion. But the young one, he looked similar to Thorin and the blond dwarf. He didn't have their blue eyes and his hair wasn't blond or black, it was dark brown but not black like Thorin's. But there was something in the young one that reminded Bilbo of Thorin and the blond dwarf.

Was this why the young one was sad? Had Thorin done something to him?

Little did Bilbo know, Thorin had done something, he had almost abandoned the young one and took the person he needed the most with him. He had left the fatherless young child with a fading mother and taken in the child's brother to train him as his heir. The young one had been left with a mother who didn't speak and didn't cook or clean or work. He had been left on his own to cope with the fast-moving world. And his uncle hadn't noticed. He had eyes for his heir only. Not his other nephew.

The young one knew that Thorin wasn't to blame, he wanted to reclaim their home, their kingdom. It was an obsession that had left him blind to most things he had previously held close. Things that he had loved. Like his little nephew.

* * *

_Mirror, Mirror, tell me something_

_Who's the loneliest of all?_

_I'm the loneliest of all._

* * *

**So, how was that? Was it ok?**

**Please leave a review for me, because I have no idea how that went.**

**Luaith xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

"Thorin. We must stop soon, it is getting dark and many of our ponies are stumbling, especially Bombur's," said an old dwarf with white hair and a long white beard.

"Very well, Balin. We shall stop in half an hours time," said a clearly younger dwarf. This one had long, dark hair, a short beard and piercing blue eyes. With him, he carried a sense of authority.

The older dwarf, Balin, sighed. He was growing weary from the long day's travel. But he said nothing. Until ten minutes later. "Thorin, look," he said. "Over there is a cave. We might not find a better shelter until tomorrow at noon. I think we should stop here for the night,"

Thorin looked at the shelter and then back at the road that seemed to go on forever. He sighed, for he too was tired. "It doesn't look particularly safe," he said.

He turned back to look at the company. Unsurprisingly, his nephews were at the back of the group, deep in a conversation that was most likely meaningless. They always kept by the each other's sides, talking and messing about as if the rest of the world no longer mattered. They looked so tired to their uncle's eyes but not at all to any other members of the company. But then again, their uncle was the only one who could read the signs of their tiredness. And the signs were quite clearly there, waiting for him to read them. The way the younger of the two had lowered his head slightly, the way the blond was holding the reigns loosely and kept looking up the way he did when he couldn't focus from tiredness, it made it clear to him: it was time to rest.

"Very well," Thorin sighed. "Kili!" He called.  
Kili looked up suddenly, his face lit up and the signs of tiredness immediately seemed to melt away. He rode up to Thorin with his brother right behind him. "Yes Thorin?"

"Go scout the area. Make sure it's safe," Thorin ordered. It came out harsh and angry. He hadn't intended it to be either of those things.

But Kili just smiled. "Of course." He dismounted his horse and tied the reigns to a young but sturdy tree. He patted its nose and turned to leave. Fili moved, as if to follow him but the look Thorin gave him told him not to.

* * *

It was dark in the woods. Very dark. Kili could barely his hand in front of his face. He was ashamed. His uncle had snapped at him. His uncle was angry with him. Again. He had angered his uncle, and it was only the first night of their journey! He walked further in to the forest, his bow in his hand, his quiver on his back. He didn't even know what he had done. But then again, he didn't know most times anyways.

A twig snapped. It wasn't Kili who had snapped it. The sound came from behind him. He suddenly felt as if he was being watched. The young dwarf spun around, his eyes searching for his target. He saw none. His target had jumped in to the trees before he had turned and was creeping up behind him. And then the young dwarf saw nothing more.

* * *

The dwarves set up camp, even though Kili had not returned. The dwarves and the hobbit were to tired to care. But when he did not return in fifteen minutes, it was said he could have gotten lost. Fili became worried. Fili was checking if all his knives were in their places, a nervous habit. A half an hour passed. Thorin watched Fili as his nephew stood up and looked at the woods. He knew Fili was wondering if he should go in. And he started walking in to the shadows. Every eye turned to Thorin when he did not try to stop his nephew. Thorin shook his head.

Fili came back later. He had found his brother's footprints. They had ended suddenly. He had found a puddle of blood and something else.

* * *

Not very far from the dwarves' camp, an orc was watching them. He turned to another orc. "Tell the master, we have found the dwarf scum," he said. Another stepped out of the trees.

"No," he said. "Tell him that we have one of them."

* * *

**Hi!**

**This chapter's a bit shorter than I would have liked. But, hey, that can't be helped. Fun Fact: this was originally going to be a different story. But I decided to use it in this one.**

**Thanks to the people who reviewed! I logged in today and this story was gone. I found it in recovery and managed to get it back and the reviews we're still there but the favs and follows weren't... If you did fav and/or follow please fav and/or follow again. Sorry!**

**Review? For Kili?**

**Luaith xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

"Uncle?" Fili whispered. "Kili's not in there. He didn't answer when I called him. I found his footprints, but they just... ended, in a pool of blood. And I found this." Fili reached in to his jacket and pulled out a lock of dark brown hair. One end was covered in a crusty substance: dried blood.

Thorin said nothing. He stood up and turned to face the trees and the shadows beyond them. Kili was gone. He thought three thoughts: find Kili, what happened to Kili and Dis was going to kill him if anything bad had happened to her youngest son. She had already lost her husband and had tried to persuade both of her sons not to join the quest. She knew Fili had to go, being crown prince and next line for the throne, but Kili didn't absolutely _need_ to go. But he had gone ahead and joined the quest anyway, wanting his uncle to notice him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Thorin saw Dwalin get up and start walking towards the trees, followed by Balin. They must have overheard them talking. Thorin turned back to say something to Fili. "Stay here," he ordered. "I'll go and see if there are any clues as to what happened."

Fili nodded and sat down. A single tear ran down his cheek. "Oh, Kili," he whispered.

* * *

It was cold. That was the first thing Kili noticed when he woke up. He opened his eyes. He was... somewhere he didn't recognise. He was lying on his front, his cheek was pressed against cold, cracked stone. The back of his head hurt. His hands were bound tightly together with a strong, thick rope. There was no hope in attempting to pull his hands out of their binding. He lifted his head a little and saw an Orc above him, speaking in its foul tongue. The Orc wasn't talking to him, no. It was talking to another Orc, one that he couldn't see. He heard the Orc say something that made his blood run cold. He heard the Orc address the other one as 'Azog'. But that was impossible, wasn't it? Thorin always said that Azog died long ago. Azog died from his wounds from a battle with Thorin. Thorin had cut off his hand.

"Ah. He is awake now," Azog said in the Common Tongue.

Kili shut his eyes in hopes that the orcs would think that he wasn't actually awake but he knew it was futile. He knew the orcs wanted him to talk, to say anything and everything about Thorin and the company and Erebor. He wouldn't talk, no matter what they did. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction of bullying him in to talking.

"You are one of the line of Durin. Do not deny it. I see it in your face and I smell it in your blood. You are of the line of Durin. And you know who I am. And I hope you know that I have sworn to wipe out your line. I began by beheading Thror, the 'King under the Mountain'. Except he had no mountain. The dragon took it. Thror, what is he to you? Great grandfather, great great grandfather?"

Kili said nothing, neither admitting nor denying that he was of Durin's line or a descendant of Thror. Then he could feel himself being kicked, being rolled on to his back so that he could see Azog. He opened his eyes just a crack. He could see a blurred shape looming above him.

"Open your eyes, boy!" Azog commanded.

Kili did nothing.

"OPEN YOUR EYES!" Azog roared.

This time, Kili did as he was told. And immediately regretted it. Azog's face was inches above his. He was bent over, examining his 'guest'. His skin was a bluish-grey in the light of the moon. His scars were pink and symmetrical. But the things scared Kili the most were the pale orc's eyes. They were an unnatural blue and as cold as ice.

"Tell me, where is Oakenshield?" Azog stood up tall and walked over to an enormous white warg and started to stroke it.

Kili said nothing.

"Ah. I see. You will not talk. Well, we have ways to make you talk. And we will make you talk and we will _enjoy_ making you talk." Azog turned to the first Orc and uttered something in Black Speech. The first Orc laughed with anticipation.

* * *

Thorin stood over a puddle of dried blood. Kili's blood. Balin and and Dwalin stood beside him.

"He didn't run away, there are no footprints beyond this puddle. And I doubt he would _cut his hair._ And Kili is loyal to the crown, he wouldn't run away," Balin was saying.

But Thorin only heard him distantly. He had several thoughts running through his mind but only a few were of any importance. Thorin, Balin and Dwalin had already agrees that Kili had not run away but had probably been kidnapped. By whom? They didn't know, there weren't any clues. Other than the pool of dried blood and the lock of hair Fili had found.

Fili. His brother meant everything to him. He was like his other half. Thorin had felt bad for making Fili move in with him while Kili stayed with Dis, but Fili needed training. Training that Kili didn't need because he probably would never get the crown. He had received the most basic training in case anything should happen to Fili. But the irony in that was that while nothing had happened to Fili, something had happened to Kili. What 'it' was. 'It' wasn't anything good, Thorin knew that.

"There is absolutely nothing to show what happened. Nothing. Other than this," Dwalin said gesturing at the puddle.

_'He isn't even the crown prince anyway. It doesn't matter what happens to him,'_ a little voice from Thorin's mind said. _'We need to get to Erebor,'_ it said to him. It was the voice that Thorin hated. The one who pushed his family away from him. The one who only cared for Erebor. But sometimes that voice was stronger than his own. The way it was now.

"We need to get back to the others," Thorin said.

Balin and Dwalin looked at him as if they didn't understand what he was saying.

"But the boy-" Balin began.

"_The boy_ is gone. Probably taken by orcs. We need to start moving on in case they come back and decide to take more of us. And I would rather not be here if they do," Thorin said. The voice, the stupid voice had a way of thinking that made it seem as if it cared for the others when all it really wanted was to move on, to get to Erebor.

Balin and Dwalin nodded slowly and sadly and followed Thorin back to the camp.

***-8-0-8-***

It was just after dawn when Fili woke up to someone shaking his shoulder. Thorin stood above him saying that it was to time to leave and that he should pack up. Fili nodded, sat up and turned to his left, expecting to see Kili there, sleeping. But Kili wasn't there. Fili blinked tiredly before remembering the fact that Kili hadn't returned from scouting the area the way Thorin told him too. But... Fili had been hoping that it had just been a dream. He looked down at his hand and saw the lock of Kili's hair and realised with a sinking feeling that Kili was actually gone, it hadn't just been a nightmare. This was real.

Balin and Dwalin stood behind Thorin. Sadness filled their eyes. They had gone looking in the forest, hadn't they? They had. And they hadn't found him.

"I'm sorry, lad," Balin said before turning away to pack up his own possesions.

Dwalin knelt down to face Fili. "Don't give up hope," he said.

Fili nodded and stood up. He began packing up his things as well. He was carrying his pack over to his pony when he almost tripped of the sleeping burglar. Fili almost laughed out loud. He wondered how fast the hobbit could pack his own items up and whether or not he would live through one of Thorin's terrifying glares. Thorin often glared at people who didn't get up quickly. Well, he would have the answers to his questions soon enough.

***-8-0-8-***

Thorin could see that Fili wasn't very happy. He rode at the back of the group and mostly only talked to the hobbit. Fili was hurting inside, that was clear to anyone who looked at him.

"... And then there's my cousins, the Sackville-Bagginses..." Bilbo was saying. He was talking about his family with Fili, who was half listening and would give occasional nod or 'yes' or 'no'.

Fili had practically curled in on himself. The light that usually filled his eyes had all but vanished and he sat hunched over with his hood over his head. But his mind was filled with thoughts of his. Where was Kili? What had happened? Was he in pain? Was he _dead_? No. He wasn't dead, he couldn't be. Fili refused to even _think of thinking_ that Kili might be dead. Because he just _couldn't_ be.

* * *

"We will make you talk. But first we will give you a choice: you can talk now or you can talk later. If you're still alive, that is. So what will it be? Will you talk now?" Azog asked.

Kili shook his head.

"Very well. Just remember: we gave you a choice. You brought his upon yourself."

There was the crack of a whip and suddenly a searing pain burned Kili's back. But he had sworn not to talk. And so, he wouldn't.

* * *

**Hey guys!**

**Just a few things:**

**1- I realise there isn't a point in either movie where Azog speaks the Common Tongue, but when he spoke to Thorin when the company was in the trees Thorin _seemed_ to understand him. But that might have just been me noting it like that. However, I wasn't sure what to do because I've read fics where Azog speaks the Common Tongue and other ones where he doesn't, but for this one, for the sake of the interactions between Azog and Kili, he speaks both.**

**2- The thing with voice in Thorin's head is the voice of the Dragon Sickness and it sometimes takes power over him. I might have been reading 'Lies' recently (from the Gone Series) and it might have been slightly inspired by Drake and Brittney... But i****t's just taking over the mind not... Y'know. I'm scared to say too much on that subject because of Spoilers... If you haven't read the Gone Series, don't worry, I'll try to make if more clear in future chapter just how much Thorin can fight the Dragon Sickness. He can fight it, to some extent.**

**3- Kili was kidnapped and thrown on a warg. We're going to pretend that wargs don't make foot-no, paw prints. For now at least. That's why Thorin and Balin and Dwalin couldn't figure anything out.**

**And I guess that's it.**

**Review?**

**Luaith xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Lyrics from Bastille's 'Things We Lost In The Fire'. I prefer Janet Devlin's cover more though.**

* * *

The wargs had surrounded the company and were now closing in on them. Kili should have been there, by his side with his bow bent and arrows shooting down the wargs. But he wasn't. Fili had believed the theory his uncle had given the company, that orcs had probably taken Kili. And now there were orcs here. Trying to kill them. It took all of Fili's self control to not slash Thorin's hand off and kill each and every one of them until he knew where Kili was. Fili had, in fact, already tried to run off and kill them but Thorin's hand had shot out , grabbed his arm and pulled him back. When Fili looked at his uncle, he saw something he had never seen in his uncle's eyes before: a mixture worry and fear and pain. The fear scared Fili. He had seen it many eyes since the beginning of the quest, but never in his whole life had he seen it in his uncle's.

Fili's eyes scanned the area. He could see lots of orcs and wargs, eleven dwarves and one hobbit. No wizard. "Thorin. Where's Gandalf?" He asked.

Thorin turned his head, his eyes searching for the tall figure clad in grey with the pointy hat. His eyes flashed angrily when he realised that the wizard was no longer present. "He has deserted us." Some members of the company had also noticed the wizard's disappearance. Thorin addressed them next. "Hold your ground!" He ordered.

The wargs and their riders continued to close in around them. They were coming in closer and closer.

Fili heard an orc's arrow before he saw because it came from behind him. It whizzed past his ear, barely missing him. He spun around, looking for the Orc who had shot it, bit instead saw Gandalf signalling to hide behind a big rock. "Thorin!" he shouted and pointed at Gandalf.

Thorin nodded and pushed Fili in the direction of the wizard. "Go!"

Fili ran. He pointed at Gandalf for the others to understand the plan. He ran. One by one the other dwarves ran as well. They disappeared from sight and Fili glanced back to see Thorin running behind him. With all the members of the company behind the rock, Fili dodged behind it as well. And remembered that all the members of the company were there, except one. The one that Fili wanted to talk to the most.

* * *

_-Things we lost to the flames-_

_-Things we'll never see again-_

_-All that we've amassed-_

_-Sits before us, shattered into ash-_

* * *

Ten quick lashes. Each one burned like fire, each one was worse than the last one. The pain burned through him, but it not worsen after the tenth. Kili realised they had stopped. He looked up to see Azog standing by the fire. He tipped Kili's quiver up and all the arrows fell out. They burst in to flame, leaving nothing but blackened, sharp-edged stones. Kili could make more arrows, they didn't matter to him. And Azog knew that. He tossed the quiver itself over his shoulder and in to the fire.

Next, Azog held Kili's bow in his hand, running his hand along the wood with mock interest. "Did you make this yourself?" He asked.

Kili shook his head, lying. The bow meant little to him, he had always seen it as a failure. It was a larger model of the one he had made as a dwarfling. At first he had been proud of himself for making his own bow. He run to his uncle to show him, wanting his uncle to be proud too. But Thorin had waved him away with a frown. Then Kili had doubted his bow. He thought it was a failure because his uncle hadn't been interested. His uncle would have been interested if it had been good, but he hadn't, so it hadn't. But in the end, he could use it to shoot. And that was the main objective. So he had used it.

Azog held the bow above the flames. Red and golden flames licked the smooth, polished wood. The bow fell in to the heart of the fire.

He knew that he wouldn't talk if they just destroyed his weapons, weapons could be replaced. He had just wanted to do it. Make the dwarf, make him watch the burning of his weapons. The weapons first. Him second. Maybe it would tell him to talk, because if he didn't, they would kill him. Or, rather, they would have him _begging_ to kill him.

The pale Orc nodded at the Orc behind Kili. He raised the whip again. With a crack, it came back down and struck the dwarf's back again. Blood had already stained the back of his tunic but more blood, fresh blood spread across it. The dwarf tried hard to not cry out. And sometimes he succeed. But more often than not, he did not. Another crack, more pain-fire, running through him-more blood.

Kili often cried out, but he never begged them to stop, he never said anything. Another lash, followed by another and another. They kept coming. Kili lost count of how many he had gotten. Still they kept coming. Suddenly the lashings stopped. Two new orcs stood behind him. They both took a hesitant step forward. Kili wanted to thank them for providing a distraction.

"We lost them, the dwarf-scum. We were ambushed by Elvish filth..." One said. His voice trailed off. He was scared, terrified.

"No excuses!" Azog roared. "I want Oakenshield's head!"

"We were outnumbered, we could do nothing! I barely escaped with my life!" The Orc squeaked. He was shaking in fear.

Azog approached him calmly before skewering him with the points on metallic replacement for his missing hand. "Far better you had paid with it," he said. And with that, Azog through his body to the wargs. "They will show themselves soon enough," he muttered to himself. He turned to the other Orc. He was quivering, wondering if he was going to follow the last Orc. "Send out word. There is a price for their heads."

He turned to Kili. "Your friends are lucky they survived today, but I am afraid they will not last long. But then again, neither will you." He grabbed Kili's arm and pulled him over to the fire. Kili's back was in agony. He could see blackened arrow head in the fire. He could smell flesh burning. Then the wave of pain hit him. But he refused to talk. He pulled his hand back and curled in to a ball, as if to protect his hand.

Azog smile. He would break him. Eventually. But for now, he would have his fun. He began to think of what Oakenshield might be doing, where he might be going. They were going east if his troops had been close enough to be ambushed by elves. After the elves, the next stop would be the Misty Mountains. He could take this one there and... Oh, yes. This was going to be fun...

* * *

_-These are the things, the things we lost-_

_-The things we lost in the fire fire fire-_

_-These are the things, the things we lost-_

_-The things we lost in the fire fire fire-_

* * *

Fili sat in the corner, not talking to anyone. Dori had tried several times to coax him to talk. But Fili wasn't interested. He had been offered food, but he wasn't hungry either. In his mind's eye he could see Kili. Kili, screaming in pain, covered in blood with broken bones. Kili, lying dead in a puddle of his own blood. Kili... there were too many horrible pictures to mention.

Fili looked to his left, where Kili had always been, where Kili should have been, where Kili would have always been if nothing had happened. Kili, with his dark hair that refused to be plaited and his eyes filled with a light that burned brightly and could not be put out, no matter what you said or what you did.

Thorin wasn't with the group he was... somewhere, over there with Gandalf and the elf. Something about swords and the map. Wait, no, he was back already. He sat down beside Fili. He looked grim.

"We have until Durin's day to reach the mountain. By last light at least," he said.

Fili found himself hating his uncle. "My brother is gone, probably with orcs, and all you care about is the mountain!" He almost shouted. "Don't you care about Kili? Don't you care about our family?"

Thorin sighed. "Yes Fili. I care about our family. I know losing Kili is hard. I lost Frerin when I was younger than you. I was 53."

"Does it eventually stop hurting, Uncle?" Fili asked. He sounded like a child again.

"No, Fili. The pain never really goes away. I often find it helps if I distract myself. I'd suggest you try sparring, but I don't think the elves would take it too kindly."

At the mention of sparring, Fili seemed ready to break down. He had always sparred with Kili. They were a fair match. They knew the other's tricks and how to counteract those tricks. A tear ran down Fili's face as he found a memory and it began to play itself through in his mind.

***-8-0-8***

_Thorin had taken his two nephews out to work on their Kili's swordsmanship. He was more comfortable with a bow, which was good for long distance and taking down enemies before they could reach you, but when they were up close, it didn't tend to be as good as a sword._

_"Ha! I beat you Fee!" Little Kili exclaimed in excitement._

_"Oh, did you now?" Fili asked._

_Kili nodded. "Yes. I beat you fair and square."_

_"Hmm, I'm not so sure about that, Kee."_

_"But, but... I did! Didn't I, Uncle Thorin?" _

_"Oh, Kili, I'm not so sure. Maybe you should have a race to settle it." Thorin said._

_Fili watched as Kili's face lit up. Kili had always loved running. And he was good at it too, even when he was little dwarfling. "From here," Kili said, drawing in the dirt, "to... that tree." He pointed at a tree._

_Fili nodded_

_"On your marks, get set and... Go!" Thorin said._

_Kili had gotten to the tree first. Fili had let him win but Kili could almost beat him without his big brother being nice. Kili had been proud of himself that day. He wasn't very proud or certain nowadays, though._

* * *

**Before anyone says anything, I know, I'm very evil. I swear I'm not usually like this! I just shouldn't write fanfic after reading books by Michael Grant. But he's one of my favourite authors. I got BZRK Apocalypse today! Ahh! So good!**

**So, fire, right? I know it's not very original. It's just an easy tool to use and the mental side-effects are... interesting. Sorry it's not very original. **

**Review? For Kili?**

**Luaith xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

They moved under the cover of night. They had left the crumbling remains of the old watch tower built on top of a hill, Weathertop, just after sunset and were moving quickly. A pack of thirteen orcs, or so, moving quickly to reach the next forest or cave they could find. They were making their way towards the Misty Mountains, where Thorin Oakenshield would go next. And there, Azog would catch him and bring an end to the line of Durin, fulfil the oath he had sworn very long ago.

Kili had immense difficulties passing through the uneven land. Often he would stumble, and three or four times he had fallen. His punishment for slowing them down was another lashing. His back burned as he walked.

He fell again. He braced himself for the burning sting that the whip brought, along with the awful cracking sound that he had begun to dread. Five cracks. He was grabbed roughly, pulled to his feet and pushed forwards. His arm had been burned, but it could have been a lot worse. He figured that he would probably end up with scars, but not much worse. But then again, healing wasn't his speciality. He noted to himself that he wanted to learn more about healing.

He could see trees in the distance. The sun wasn't to far away, already the sky was becoming a pinky-orange. He knew that orcs rarely travel in sunlight, they would probably stop under the trees. Then the orcs would ask him more questions. Maybe he would talk this time. Not give them answers, but talk. But no, they wanted answers. They would hurt him if he didn't give them answers.

He stumbled again. He caught himself before he fell, but he was still slowing the orcs down. The Orc in front of him was big and scary and as he spun around, Kíli could feel his terror multiply. The orcs was huge and strong. His nose appeared to be flattened to his far and he had a scar that ran across his cheek. The orc grabbed Kili's burnt arm with an iron grip and began to twist it. "Don't do it again, _dwarf_. You are slowing us down," he growled.

A sickening crack filled the air as Kili's arm broke. The Orc let go of him and he yanked his arm back, not wanting to see it. Just from the pain, he could tell it wouldn't look nice. He had broken his arm before, when he was small and had fallen from a tree and it hadn't hurt half as much as it hurt now. He looked down at his arm. And regretted it immediately. The bone was visible through his skin. The bone had broken _through_ the skin. Jagged, white bone. Blood dripped from the wound. Big, fat, ruby red drops fell from the wound and wet the soil beneath his feet, painting the grass red.

* * *

Almost dawn. He should go quickly, if he wanted to find any orcs. Fili sighed. In the past few days, the theory Thorin had given the company had become what he believed to be what happened. But just because he believed it didn't mean that it was the truth. He wanted proof that orcs had his little brother, his nadadith. Proof would give him the chance to save his brother.

He was going out to search for part of the orc pack, to see if he could find any information about Kili. He checked for his twin swords, his throwing axes and a couple of various other blades before setting out.

***-8-0-8-***

He was hidden behind a large rock on the plains beside Rivendell. The rock that hid the Hidden Passage was within his sight. As was an Orc. He was riding a warg and held a crude, black axe in his hand.

Fili grabbed a throwing knife from a pocket in his jacket and threw it at the warg. It hit its leg. He had been aiming for the neck. Cause the creature to die before the orc suspected him. Let him use the element of surprise.

Too late.

The warg shrieked as blood trickled down its leg. A dwarvish throwing knife protruded from it. The Orc leaned over and saw this. The whistle of a flying blade. The warg collapsed beneath him, dead. He dismounted his dead steed. The throwing knife had been thrown from the direction of the particularly large rock to his left. At least one dwarf was hidden behind it, the Orc was sure of it.

Suddenly a blond dwarf stood up from behind the rock. The Orc ran at him, only to be impaled by another well-aimed throwing knife. He fell and the dwarf approached him.

"We had one of your kind," the orc gasped. "He was fun to play with."

"Had? Was?" The dwarf questioned.

"Yes. We... Had, as in no longer have and-" the orc began to choke on his own blood. "He looked... like... you. Black haired archer," he said in between coughs.

"What became of the dwarf?"

"He's dead," the orcs said as the light faded in his eyes.

* * *

**Hi.**

**Sorry this chapter is sort of short. I would have liked to update this sooner, but I have discovered Star Wars in the past week... Yes, I know they've been out since the seventies and I'm only watching them for the first time recently (I tend to be a bit late to these sort of things. I only watched LOTR for the first time last December, after I fell in love with DoS). Big thanks to my friend for letting me borrow her copies Star Wars. She is also officially responsible for my addiction. And I don't care what anyone says, Anakin is amazing. And cute... No comment on Vader, though. (Epic Super villain maybe? No. Still don't like the idea of him being a villain). I _really_ wanted to amputate Kili's arm as a reference (is reference the right word? Probably not) to Star Wars, but that could be seen as copying someone else.**

**I've been busy for the past few days as well. Flying to other countries at seven in the morning, sleeping, going to the zoo (-_-), going to Legoland (and buying a Bilbo keychain, a Frodo magnet, a Darth Vader keychain and a Luke Skywalker keychain), watching Star Wars and reading City of Glass. Yeah...**

**Just a note: the trees Kili can see in the distance were the ones by the Trollshaws. So the orc pack and Kili might encounter the stone remains of our dear friends William, Bert and Tom! They might. Should they? **

**I'll probably update soon. Sometime during this week... whenever that is.**

**Please review. Every single review means a lot to me. I'm sure plenty of other authors will agree with me.**

**Luaith xxx**


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